Apparently this has been around for a while, but I recently stumbled upon it, thanks to a link from Dan Reeves. So who’s this John Titor guy? Well, in November 2000 a person called himself Timetravel_0 and later John Titor, posting on a message board that he was a time traveler from the year 2036. From the site:

One of the first things he did was post pictures of his time machine and its operations manual. As the weeks went by, more and more people began questioning him about why he was here, the physics of time travel and his thoughts about our time. He also posted on other forums including the old Art Bell site. In his posts John Titor entertained, angered, frightened and even belittled those who engaged him in conversation. On March 24, 2001, John Titor told us he would be leaving our time and returning to 2036. After that, he was never heard from again. Speculation and investigation about who John Titor was and why he was online continues to this day. Although it may be easy to dismiss all this as science fiction, most people who read his posts agree that there is something very haunting about John Titor and what he said. In addition, and open to more debate, he also made a series of predictions and comments that eerily seem to be coming true.

The site on John Titor has an archive of all the posts found that he ever made on message boards. Is he real? It’s hard to tell. If it’s a hoax, then it has been planned out and carried out very carefully– he answered/solved many complex physics questions that were challenged by people to him, so he’s pretty smart too. He talks about a civil war which will begin this year (but he said 2005 once, did he not?). I don’t think this stuff is real, but it’s definitely an interesting read anyhow (and it’s also a little frightening how he talks about the world in such horrible condition). There is the slight possibility that this is real, and if so, we’ll definitely see something in the next year or so. However, if nothing happens, we can be assured that that was just a brilliant plan and a great story.

I’m thirsty. =o

Now Playing: Ozone - Rock (Original Mix) / genre: Trance

I think I’ll actually buy Tiesto’s Just Be when it gets released around here (June 1 officially). A lot of Tiesto’s stuff really isn’t my style, and this album encompasses a broad range of electronic genres, but hey– he’s the number one DJ in the world and I think he’s pretty good at it, so why not support him? Sure, I think Pulser may be a better producer, but I don’t see him releasing a CD anytime soon. Nope, everything he makes goes to vinyl like all other great trance productions. Armin is a great DJ, yes, and a decent producer as well, but I mostly listen to his A State of Trance stuff and plus– he’s only released one album, 76. If Armin released another album, yes, I’d probably buy it.

Anyway, this music buying stuff brings me to another point. Indeed, I would never have discovered so much different music if it weren’t for filesharing or even online radio and the likes. Filesharing helped me discover Tiesto, Paul van Dyk, Armin van Buuren, Airbase, Firewall, Push, Rank 1, and many, many more. Sorry, RIAA, but I think you’re pretty stupid. Yes, money is good, but you are actually getting more money now that filesharing is out. Also, you really can’t do much to people who listen to European label releases in the US. Also again, many mp3s and other convenient compressed audio files don’t even contain illegal material. But that’s not the point. Whether the files are illegal or not– it doesn’t really matter. It helps the artists and everyone else get more money, and the artists don’t even get nearly as much as the RIAA. What spurred me on to say on this at this moment was probably reading my brother’s blog but I do agree with these things for such reasons. Music is good, and music can get money, but listening to music before buying it will and does help people decide what they like. It also reaps more profits for you big labels because now more people will know such great songs exist (in their own opinions).

Not only are you stupid, you’re cheating.

Quoting from Lawrence Lessig’s blog, a summary paragraph from an article on how the RIAA cheats the numbers to appear to show that they are losing money when they aren’t:

Forget the confusing percentages, here’s an oversimplified example: I shipped 1000 units last year and sold 700 of them. This year I sold 770 units but shipped only 930 units. I shipped 10% less units this year. And this is what the RIAA wants the public to accept as “a loss.”

Well, anyhow, let’s end with a very off-topic quote from a long long time ago: “640k of RAM should be enough for anybody.” - Bill Gates

Oh, and school ends in less than a week. I’m looking forward to the summer. =D

Now Playing: Firewall - Sincere (Pulser Remix) / genre: Trance

“Ladies and gentlemen, the moment we’ve all been waiting for, the tenth of May 2003 will be a day to remember in the history of God’s music. For the first time on our planet, one DJ, twenty-five thousand people in this thrilling dome. Sold out weeks in advance, presenting to you the man who won all the imaginable awards in God’s music, the man who sold hundreds of thousands of albums worldwide, the man who is taking us on a musical journey tonight in concert. Popular from LA to Moscow, from Sydney to Rio de Janiero, all over the world. He is the world’s number one DJ returned. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome… DJ Tiesto!”

Such was said at Tiesto in Concert in Amsterdam. Now here comes Tiesto’s second album, Just Be. It’s officially released on May 20 internationally (and June 1 in the US), but you can already buy the Nebula release of Just Be here. Maybe I’ll buy this album when it’s released in the US… BTW, here’s the tracklist:

DJ Tiesto - Just Be 01. Forever Today (11:59) 02. Love Comes Again (08:09) 03. Traffic (05:27) 04. Sweet Misery (07:33) 05. Nyana (06:44) 06. Ur (05:59) 07. Walking On Clouds (07:27) 08. A Tear In The Open (09:22) 09. Just Be (08:44) 10. Adagio For Strings (07:23)

Nyana is, of course, my favorite. =D

Well, it’s the last stretch of the track. Finals pour moi are next week, and actually our oral French exam is tommorow. Everyone is all stressed out. Plano has finals this week. I need to study more. =\ I plan to go to Escape next week. If anyone wants to go, let me know. We’ll be drinking bubbletea while hopefully playing Halo or whatever on the computers.

Now Playing: MK-S - Illuminate (Mind One Remix) / genre: Trance